The seventh week of the US Chess League clarified the playoff picture in both divisions. In the West the Chicago Blaze officially clinched a playoff berth after defeating the San Francisco Mechanics 2.5-1.5 and moving to a league-record 7-0 start to the season. The Los Angeles Vibe jumped into clear second place after beating the Miami Sharks with a 2.5-1.5 score. San Francisco fell to fourth place while the Dallas Destiny grabbed clear third by drawing their match with the Arizona Scorpions. The Seattle Sluggers also drew with the Saint Louis Arch Bishops and now both teams are in must-win mode for the rest of the season if they are to have any chance at making the playoffs.

In the Eastern Division the Philadelphia Inventors and New York Knights cemented themselves at the top of the standings with wins over the Boston Blitz and New Jersey Knockouts. New York dominated their match thanks to GM Giorgi Kacheishvilli's win over GM Joel Benjamin while Philadelphia edged past the Boston Blitz. The Manhattan Applesauce, despite losing to the New England Nor'easters remained in third place while the Baltimore Kingfishers split their match with the Carolina Cobras. New England, Boston, Baltimore, and Carolina are now tied with each other fighting for the last playoff spot.

This match featured a horrible blunder out of the opening by FM Xiong, interesting wins by IM Molner and IM Holt, and an accidental forfeit on time in a drawn pawn ending by FM Adamson to make this quite an exciting match.

19.f4! This move is simple enough to find once you realize you need to double rooks on the g-file, but it is still incredibly strong and is the only move that leads to an advantage for White. (Hide Solution)